Rotary



August 4, 1915.

DRAWING A careful search has been made this day for the original drawingor a photolithographic copy of the same, for the purpose of reproducingthe said drawing to form a part of this book, out at this time nothingcan be found.

from which a reproduction can be made.

Finis D. Morris,

Chief of Division B.

IINITEU STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL TAINTER, OF IVOROESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,435, dated November 80, 1852.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL TAINTER, ofWorcester, in the county of \Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Knitting-l /Iachines; andI do hereby declare that the same are fully described and representedin' the following specification and the accompanying drawings, letters,figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure 1 denotes a top view of a machine having myimprove ments applied to it. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is a side elevation of it.

The machine which I have improved is what is generally known as theFrench rotary machine, the character of which will be obvious fro-1n thedrawings. It consists in part of a series of hooked needles a, a, &c.,arranged in a circle and affixed to a rotary platform or frame A. Inconnection with the said series of needles and as further parts of themachine, several burs, toothed, or fan wheels, B, G, D, a presser wheelE, and an inclined plane or cam bar F are employed to make the loops,form the stitches, cast them over the loops, the same being done duringthe rotation of the series of needles. It is to such a machine, one wellknown to persons skilled in the arts of knitting shirts or stocking knitfabrics, that my improvements are applied, which improvements I shallnow proceed to describe.

The machine is supported on a horizontal table or platform G on whichtwo columns H, H, are elevated and surmounted by a cross bar I having anarm K extended from it and constituting a support to the upper part of avertical shaft L whose lower end rests and revolves when in motion in ahearing or stop piece M secured upon the plat-e G.

On the shaft L the driving pulley N is situated. It is made to rotatefreely on the shaft and so as to be capable of being slid or moved up ordown thereon by means of aing band or belt passes around the pulley Nand when such pulley is clutched to the gear P and the belt is put inmotion such gear and the shaft will be rotated, and of course create arotative movement of the rotative platform A. On the upper part of theshaft L another gear wheel R is fixed, it being of the same size andhaving the same number of teeth as the gear P. The said gear It is madeto engage with another gear S which is attached to frame T that rotateshorizontally over the platform A. The size of the wheel S and its numberof teeth are in exact accordance with the size and number of teeth ofthe wheel Q so that the frame T and the platform A rotate simultaneouslywith the same velocity.

The frame T carries a cloth roller or beam U which is arranged within itas seen in the drawings, the cloth or fabric as fast as it is wovenbeing wound upon the same. It passes directly upward from the needlesand winds upon the roller or beam. By combining the movement of thecloth beam with the rotating series of needles by means of a frame madeto revolve in exact accordance with such series no horizontal twist isput in the cloth during the operation of the machine.

The frame T rotates on a stationary shaft (Z. On the lower end of thesaid shaft a cam e is fastened, a spring f that is attached at one endto the frame T being made to rest against the periphery of the cam. Thesaid spring is jointed at its other end to a bent lever 9 that turnsupon a fulcrum or pin it and has a draw pawl 2' jointed to its lowerend, such pawl being made to work against the teeth of a ratchet wheel70 that is fastened on one end of the cloth roller or beam. During suchrotation of the frame T the spring f will be so moved over or againstthe periphery of the stationary cam e as to be moved laterally so as tocause such a movement or operation of the draw pawl as will make it turnthe ratchet wheel and of course the cloth roller.

As the roll of cloth in the cloth roller increases in diameter and theamount of cloth produced is the same from time to time it will readilybe seen that under the circumstances above detailed the rotary movementof the cloth beam would create two great a strain on the cloth. Torender the strain always alike or sufficiently so for all practicalpurposes I make use of the following described mechanism. That is tosay, I apply the fulcrum pin 71. to a Vertical slide Z which is jointedor so applied to one arm of a bent lever m as to be capable of beingmoved up or down when said arm is so moved. The said lever m, turnsvertically on a fulcrum at a, and its longest arm curved as seen in thedrawings is made to rest on the roll of cloth wound on the beam orroller U. A long slot u is cut or formed through the lever g, the fulcumpm of said lever being made to pass through the said slot. The lengthsof the two arms of the lever 111 should be so regulated as to cause aproper downward movement of the fulcrum h, or one suflicient to changefrom time to time (as the weaving or knitting of the cloth progresses)the distance of the fulcrum pin from the upper end of the lever 9 thuscausing the forward and back motions of the draw pawl to grow less andless in distance and thereby diminish the amount of rotation of thecloth roller to an extent that may be desirable to enable it to take orwind up the cloth withoutan undue strain or with an even tension duringthe progress of knitting it and winding it on the roller.

In the construction and use of a rotary series of needles, presser,stitch wheels, and cam bar of the above peculiar character for producinga tubular knit fabric it has been customary not only to make the samewithout any draft and take up mechanism, but to ar-ange the needles sothat each should stand horizontally or so that the whole setshouldrotate in a vertical plane instead of a horizontal one as they do in myimproved machine. In conducting the fabric from the machine as thusarranged it is led off horizontally or thereabout and attached to a cordby means of a swivel, the cord being made to pass over a stationarypulley placed at an equal height with and some eight or ten feet fromthe machine, the said cord having a weight attached thereto and runningtoward the floor of the room in proportion as the work was produced. hemachine when thus in operation turns the work which by the uncertain andimperfect operation of the swivel is constantly being twisted or liableto be more or less twisted according to the distance the commencement ofthe work recedes from the needles. The effect of this is to produce anuneven and uncertain draft on the needles, thereby causing imperfectionsin the work besides retarding its operation or production and notunfrequently doing great damage to the machine itself. It also produceslateral drag of the work on the needles so as to cause the longitudinallines of stitches to be made in helix lines or lines divergent from thegeneral line or length of the piece or fabric,

whereby the fabric is not only injured in its appearance but is alsootherwise damaged and in order even if restored by the process usuallyadopted to prepare it for sale returns back to its original appearancewhen washed. Unless the weight which is attached to the extreme end ofthe cord has the constant and watchful attention of an opera tive it isliable to run to the floor, thereby entirely stopping the draft, suchdraft being at all times necessary to keep the stitches of work on or atthe head of the needles or to draw them thereto. The weight of the workbeing generally so great it is exceedingly inconvenient to knit morethan a few yards say from three to five at a time before it becomesnecessary to stop the machine and either cut off the work or roll it upas stated. hen the fabric is produced in short pieces as described, muchmore waste occurs in making it up into shirts, drawers, or otherarticles than when it is produced in longer pieces, say forty to eightyyards in length as it can be made on my improved machine. By the oldmode of operating the speed of the machine is much retarded inconsequence of the frequent occurrence of accidents arising from causesabove mentioned. The great care required to watch the machine in orderto guard against such difficulties renders it necessary to employ verycareful and experienced operatives in order to produce a fair quantityand quality of work.

By means of my improved machine operating in the manner described I notonly am enabled to overcome some of the aforementioned disadvantagesincident to the old machine and system of working it, together withdisadvantages of minor importance; but I can produce with much lesslabor and little or no attention double or nearly double the work in thesame time, the Work produced in my machine being not only free fromhelical or divergent distortions in its longitudinal lines of stitches,but made with an even and sufficiently uniform draft or drag on theseveral needles throughout the time of its formation whereby aregularity in the elasticity and texture of the work is produced (sothat it will not irregularly mill up when washed) which cannot withoutgreat difficulty and care be effected in the old machine by the oldprocess of using it. The improvements I have made enable the machine tobe run with much greater velocity or rapidity than it can in the oldway, besides all the difficulties incident from twisting of the fabricare avoided.

By my method of combining the draft and take up roller or mechanism withthe rotary series of needles and the presser, stitch wheels, and cambar, there is not only no connection between the frame or rotaryplatform or table A and the frame T such as will extend through thefabric, but no projection from the frame or table A to come into contactwith the presser, stitch wheels, and cam bar or their respectivesupports during the simultaneous and equal rotations of both or eitherof the frames A, T.

Should the draft and take up roller or mechanism and the rotary seriesof needles be placed in one single revolving frame it will be discoveredthat such frame if extended upward within the circle of needles Wouldpass through the fabric and thus the fabric could not be produced, drawnoff the needles, and wound on the roller. So if such frame be made toproject from without the circle of needles it would come in contact withthe presser or other part of the rest of the knitting mechanism andtherefore could not be rotated. Thus by the employment of one stationaryframe (composed of the platform G, two columns H, H, and cross bar I ortheir equivalents) and two separate frames A, T, in,sustaining therotary circular row of needles, the rest of the knitting mechanism, theroller U and mechanism for operating it and the row of needles asspecified, I am enabled to produce an automatic machine in which theabove mentioned difficulties are avoided.

I do not claim the combining one or more draft rollers and a take uproller or drum in one frame which when put in rotation shall carry themsimultaneously around with it so as to draw forward and wind up a ropeor cord or like manufacture formed of strands twisted together, nor do Iclaim the application of a take up roller or mechanism as used on eithera common warp or fiat braid knitting machine, but

that I do claim as my invention is 1. To so combine a draft and take uproller and mechanism for revolving it with a rotary series or set ofneedles and other mechanism of the above mentioned peculiar kind forknitting, that such draft roller shall rotate simultaneously or with thesame velocity with such series of needles so as to prevent thelongitudinal rows of stitches from being produced in helical lines, andthe evil consequences resulting to the fabric therefrom.

2. I also claim the arrangement of the draft and take up mechanism inconnection 4 With the knitting mechanism supported by two separateframes A, T, and also their connection with the mechanism for producingan equal and simultaneous rotation of these frames A, T, allsubstantially as described, whereby there shall not only be noconnection between the frames A, T, to extend through the fabric, but noprojection from the frame A to come in contact wit-h the presser, stitchwheels, and cam bar or their respective supports during the simultaneousand equal rotations of both or either of the said frames A, T.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature, this twenty ninthday of July DANIEL TAINTER. WVitnesses:

R. H. EDDY, G. WV. CUTLER.

